


Constantly on the Cusp

by tethrasing



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, Heist, Mutual Pining, Undercover as a Couple, fancy party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 18:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16728579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tethrasing/pseuds/tethrasing
Summary: The Watcher and Aloth go undercover as a couple at a party at Takano's estate to steal the Cornett of Waves. As both of them persistently ignore their feelings for each other, they must infiltrate Takano's hidden study without being caught by those who could see past their cover identities.





	Constantly on the Cusp

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for pillars prompts weekly #11 masquerade. Big thanks to rannadylin for being my beta reader on this project and making it the best it could be.

“So, what do you think?”

 

Tekéhu turned around at the sound of Brianna’s voice. Her long, black hair was done up in an elegant knot and she was wearing a cerulean, floor length dress that complemented her copper skin. The satin material started at her shoulders and moved down her body, hugging her waist before fanning out around her hips all the way down to her feet.

 

“I say, Captain, you have chosen well,” Tekéhu complimented her, “And I believe Aloth will like it very much.”

 

Brianna’s smile faded as she flushed slightly.

 

“Please, Tekéhu. I picked this to blend in at the party, not for Aloth to look at,” she said, walking towards the mirror on the right side of the room.

 

“Ekera, of course. It’s simply a happy coincidence that you chose a dress in his favorite color.”

 

“Yes, an incredibly happy coincidence,” she agreed, looking at herself in the mirror rather than meeting Tekéhu’s eye.

 

Tekéhu smiled, but let the matter drop. Ever since he had found out Brianna was interested in Aloth, he had been encouraging her to tell Aloth about her feelings for him. She always resisted. Such an idea was rather foreign to Tekéhu.

 

Tekéhu watched as Brianna spun around in the mirror, watching the skirt of her dress fan out around her. She giggled to herself and Tekéhu couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his mouth.

 

“This has got to be the nicest thing I’ve ever worn,” she murmured, running her hands down the satin fabric covering her hips.

 

Tekéhu walked up behind her and put both hands on her shoulders.

 

“You look beautiful in it,” he told her sincerely.

 

Brianna beamed at him through the mirror.

 

“Thank you for letting us use the Watershapers Guild to get ready, by the way. I would hate to get a dress this nice dirty walking half way through Neketaka,” she said.

 

“Ekera, it is no trouble,” Tekéhu replied, “But, if you are ready, we should not keep Aloth waiting any longer.”

 

Brianna sighed. She took one last look in the mirror before moving to the door. Tekéhu followed her out, trying to understand the foolishness of people in love.

 

* * *

 

Aloth stopped himself from stealing another glance at Brianna while they waited in line. He knew if he kept doing it, she would eventually notice. She just looked so…

 

Brianna was always beautiful. He had seen that the moment they met in Gilded Vale. However, he had never seen her look quite like this. He didn’t want to take his eyes off her. Aloth wanted to drink her in, to memorize every inch of her.

 

But they had a job to do.

 

Aloth was dressed in black robes, made of finer material than he had ever been able to afford. He used his free hand to smooth down the fabric on his abdomen.

 

Brianna squeezed his hand and leaned in to whisper, “Are you ready, _Engferth_?”

 

Aloth rolled his eyes.

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be, _Osanne,_ ” he replied, emphasizing her cover name as well.

 

Brianna chuckled. They were here on behalf of Prince Aruihi and he had secured them two tickets to the event at Takano’s estate. They were to attend and pretend to be a couple, while sneaking into Takano’s private study to steal the Cornett of Waves for the crime lord Dereo.

 

“I’ve never heard the name Osanne before. Why did you choose it?” Aloth inquired.

 

Brianna looked away as the smile fell from her face.

 

“It’s Readceran. It’s…it was my mother’s name,” she told him quietly, still not meeting his eye.

 

Aloth didn’t know what to say. Worse yet, anything he could think to say seemed woefully inadequate.

 

When they had travelled together five years ago, Aloth was the first person Brianna had told about her parents’ murder. He had been honored she trusted him enough to tell him something so personal. When they met again in the Deadfire, Aloth wondered if they could ever be that close again.

 

Instead of speaking, Aloth opted to gently squeeze Brianna’s hand. He saw her smile softly.

 

Finally, it was their turn to present their tickets. Brianna and Aloth made their way to a large aumaua woman who stood behind a podium.

 

“Tickets, please,” she said in a bored tone.

 

Brianna produced their tickets that had their false identities printed on them and handed them to the woman. She briefly checked the tickets and then looked through several papers in front of her, before waving them in.

 

Aloth followed Brianna into Takano’s estate through a set of large double doors. The party was already in full swing; the main room was filled with kith talking and drinking. The high ceiling was adorned with several lavish chandeliers. He recognized the Neketakan architecture popular among the upper class.

 

Aloth suddenly wished he was back in the relative quiet The Defiant afforded him. As if she could sense his discomfort (and since she was a cipher, she probably could), Brianna slipped her hand back into his. She leaned in close to him and Aloth’s breath momentarily caught in his throat.

 

“Follow me,” she said in his ear.

 

Brianna led him through the crowd of people to an equally lush hallway. They turned right into a crowded side room and then finally out a door to a large balcony with an impressive view of the ocean. It was nearly sunset and the pinks and oranges of the sun bounced off the water.

 

The balcony was blessedly empty compared to the rooms they passed through and Brianna easily found them a spot by the railing.

 

Aloth quietly thanked Brianna. She smiled and nodded. In their time apart, Aloth had forgotten how easy it was to be around her.

 

“We have some time, before…” Brianna said, squinting out at the ocean, “Normally I’d ask if you wanted some wine, but we probably shouldn’t be drinking.”

 

Aloth chuckled. “No, we probably shouldn’t.”

 

When he looked back at Brianna, she was smiling softly at him and had an emotion in her eyes he couldn’t put a name to.

 

“Is everything all right, Brianna?” he asked.

 

Brianna shook her head slightly and looked away.

 

“Yeah, it’s just a little strange. Traveling with you again,” she said, looking down at her hands on the balcony railing.

 

Aloth waited patiently for her to continue. He remembered from their many conversations five years ago that Brianna sometimes needed a few moments to organize her thoughts.

 

Brianna met his gaze again.

 

“I don’t mean strange in a bad way. It’s just…sometimes, you’re so familiar. And then sometimes, you do something and I can tell you’ve changed,” Brianna explained.

 

Aloth knew the feeling. He had felt it when he had spent time with Brianna, Pallegina, and Edér in recent weeks.

 

“Five years is a long time,” Aloth said simply.

 

Brianna nodded, seemingly more to herself than to him. She was quiet for several moments before she spoke again.

 

“I always knew you had the capability to stand on your own. You never needed me to lean on, even though you thought you did. It’s nice to see you more confident now. It suits you.”

 

Aloth felt himself flush and knew he would be unable to hide the pleased smile that pulled at his features. He clasped his hands together to center himself.

 

“You’re not the same as you once were either, Brianna,” he said, shifting the focus away from himself.

 

She arched an eyebrow and lifted her chin.

 

“Is that right? Do tell.”

 

“You were always wise beyond your years, but now you carry the weight of experience. Perhaps it’s the kind of wisdom one can only gain after the kind of trials you went through in the Dyrwood. Whatever the case, you make decisions now with the kind of intelligence I’ve yet to find elsewhere in Eora, and it’s always tempered by kindness.”

 

Brianna’s face split into a wide grin as he spoke.

 

“Careful, Corfiser. You’re gonna make me blush,” she beamed.

 

“It would be nice if someone else was doing it for a change,” Aloth muttered.

 

Brianna barked out a laugh at his words and several guests looked over at them. Aloth had forgotten how much he enjoyed making her laugh like that.

 

“You know what, screw it. I’m going to get a glass of wine,” Brianna said, “You want one?”

 

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he told her.

 

Brianna turned to go back inside, but she only took several steps before turning back to face him, her dress spinning out around her as she moved.

 

“Hey, for what it’s worth, I liked old Aloth a lot, but new Aloth is even better,” she said with a smile.

 

Aloth was thankful Brianna turned to walk away because he immediately felt his cheeks and ears flush at her words. He wanted to return the sentiment, but by the time he opened his mouth, she had already moved inside.

 

* * *

 

The hallways upstairs were less crowded than the rooms downstairs and would give them access later to the library. For now, Brianna and Aloth stood arm in arm examining the Huana artwork adorning the walls.

 

Not all of the artwork was specifically Neketakan in style. Brianna surmised some of the artwork came from different tribes on different islands. She enjoyed the chance to see such a collection. She knew the art was not to Aloth’s taste, but he too seemed to relish the opportunity to see the works of another culture.

 

They approached the final work of art at the end of the hall; a statue of a naked woman with waves sprouting up around her. Brianna frowned; this piece didn’t look like it was made by the Huana at all.

 

“Well, it’s...certainly something,” Aloth commented.

 

“It’s probably supposed to be Ondra,” Brianna said, “But it must have been made by some other culture. She looks nothing like that.”

 

Aloth turned his head to face her.

 

“You’ve _seen_ Ondra?”

 

“I’ve seen all the gods. Well, at least, how they want me to see them, anyway.”

 

Aloth opened and closed his mouth several times, seemingly trying to figure out which question to ask first. He settled on asking what Ondra actually looked like.

 

“The Huana statues have it right. You know, head of a fish, naked, multiple breasts.”

 

Aloth blinked at her. As he opened his mouth to reply, someone from behind them interrupted.

 

“Watcher? Watcher Brianna, I thought I saw you downstairs,” a distinctly Dyrwoodan voice said.

 

Brianna’s heart sank. She quickly affixed a pleasant smile on her face as she around. She would recognize his mind anywhere; Abrecan Doemenel. What the second-in-command of a Dyrwoodan criminal organization was doing in Neketaka was a mystery she didn’t care to unravel. The much bigger problem was the fact that he definitely knew her face.

 

“Excuse me? Have we met?” she replied, knitting her brows together in fake confusion. She made sure to emphasize her aristocratic Readceran accent.

 

The look on Abrecan’s face would be comical if the situation weren’t so serious.

 

“Surely your memory is not so poor, Watcher,” he said, adjusting his grip on his goblet, “We saw each other not a year ago in Defiance Bay. I must say though, I am surprised to see you, after what happened to Caed Nua…”

 

Brianna let the pleasant smile slip from her face as she adopted a purely confused look. She glanced at Aloth, pleased to see he was playing along.

 

“I’m sorry, you must be mistaking me for someone else. My name is Osanne. I don’t know this...Brianna, is it? I’m recently arrived from Readceras with my husband, Engferth,” Brianna lied smoothly, gesturing to Aloth with her free hand.

 

Abrecan looked back and forth between Brianna and Aloth, brow furrowed. Brianna knew she could slip into his mind to help convince him of the lie, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Abrecan had been an ally during her time in the Dyrwood.

 

“Osanne must look remarkably similar to your Brianna,” Aloth said as the seconds dragged on.

 

Abrecan seemed to snap back to himself. He nodded at Aloth.

 

“Yes, the similarity is uncanny. I...please forgive the interruption,” he replied with a small bow.

 

“It’s no trouble,” Brianna said with a smile.

 

Abrecan excused himself. Brianna let out a breath. That had been too close.

 

* * *

 

 

Brianna tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach, but it was hard when Aloth’s hand was pressing gently on the small of her back. She wondered if this was some kind of punishment from the gods, giving her a small taste of what she wanted so badly.

 

Aloth leaned in and Brianna suppressed the urge to shiver when his breath hit her ear.

 

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said just loudly enough to be heard over the din.

 

They were in a library on the second floor and it was filled with guests. Thankfully, the people here were so drunk they probably (hopefully) wouldn’t notice what Brianna was about to do.

 

As subtly as she could, Brianna reached for the second to last book on the fifth shelf and pulled on it. She cringed as the bookcase creaked and swung open several feet. Aloth increased the pressure on her back, drawing her attention to a drunk man on the other side of the room who was looking at them, mouth agape. It was a simple thing for Brianna to reach into his mind and erase the memory of what he had seen. A second later, the man was back to his drinking.

 

Brianna slipped behind the bookshelf, closely followed by Aloth. The room was about the size of a walk-in closet, just barely large enough to fit the two of them and the small desk it housed. There was also a portrait a of female pale elf Brianna didn’t recognize on the wall behind the desk.

 

Brianna moved to the desk while Aloth kept watch. She figured the Cornett would be easy to find; it was Takano’s prized possession. Sure enough, there was a small lockbox on the desk. Brianna scoffed quietly as she lifted up the skirt of her dress to get at the lockpicks she had hidden with the knife at her hip.

 

After a few moments of messing with the lock, the box popped open to reveal...nothing. The box was empty. How could this be? When she had searched Takano’s soul, he had revealed the Cornett to be in this room.

 

Brianna moved around the desk to the portrait on the wall. She felt along the sides, seeing if there were perhaps hinges, but she found nothing. That’s when she saw it - the Cornett. It was in the painting, a large seashell on a silver cord around the woman’s neck.

 

She signaled to Aloth, getting his attention. He moved quickly to her side.

 

“Look, it’s _inside_ the painting,” she whispered, motioning to the Cornett, “Any ideas?”

 

Aloth’s eyes widened.

 

“I’ve heard of such magic being used, but I’ve never seen it myself. Let me see what I can do.”

 

Aloth reached out a hand to the painting, stopping just short of touching it. He was quiet for several moments, before he began to quietly utter a spell Brianna had never heard before. When he finished speaking, a bolt of blue light left his hand and entered the painting.

 

He nodded at Brianna. With only a small amount of hesitation, Brianna reached her hand towards the painting. Then her hand moved through the canvas. It felt like her hand was submerged in water. Reaching deeper, she grasped the Cornett, tugging lightly to pull it from the woman’s neck. When she withdrew her hand, she was surprised to find it and the Cornett were completely dry.

 

“Here,” she said, handing the Cornett to Aloth. He took it and deposited the shell in one of his hidden pockets.

 

They moved quietly out of the study and Brianna closed the bookshelf. She surveyed the room, but no one else seemed to have noticed them.

 

“Let’s get out of here; The Defiant is calling my name,” Brianna told Aloth.

 

Aloth said nothing, but he smiled gratefully at her.

 

As Brianna made to move away from the bookshelf, Takano himself entered the room. The large aumaua was deep in conversation with the female aumaua Brianna had given their tickets to at the door. Thankfully, neither of them had noticed her yet. Brianna turned so she was facing away from Takano.

 

“Shit,” she muttered.

 

Aloth’s brows knit together.

 

“What is it?” he asked, an anxious edge to his voice.

 

“It’s Takano; he wasn’t supposed to actually be here,” she explained quietly, “He never attends his own parties.”

 

She had to come up with a plan. Fast. Takano knew her face so she couldn’t let him see her. She didn’t think she could get away with being recognized twice. What if they…Aloth might hate her for it, but it’s the only thing she could think of.

 

She gently maneuvered Aloth so he was up against the bookshelf. His eyes were wide and Brianna worried if his eyebrows moved any farther up towards his hairline he might lose them. Her back was to Takano now.

 

“Brianna, what-“

 

“I’m sorry about this,” she said before bringing her lips to meet his.

 

Aloth immediately stiffened. Brianna kept her body away from his, her hands on his shoulders their only point of contact aside from their lips. If they were ever to have a first kiss, this definitely wasn’t how she imagined it going.

 

But she couldn’t help but notice how soft his lips were. And she couldn’t ignore the energy between them. Did Aloth feel it, too?

 

After several moments, Aloth relaxed into the kiss. He brought his hands to rest at her waist, so gently that Brianna wondered if he had ever been kissed by someone who truly cared about him. The thought made her heart ache.

 

She brought one hand to cradle his face. The other she moved to rest gently on his chest. She followed his lead, making her lips as gentle against his as she could.

 

Somewhere along the way, Brianna forgot why they had started kissing in the first place. All that she could think about now was pouring her emotions into this kiss. For all she knew, it would be the only time she would ever get to kiss Aloth.

 

* * *

 

This was...surprising, but not unwelcome.

 

Aloth would be lying if he said he had never thought about Brianna in a romantic way. But he would lie, if anyone asked. He wasn’t quite ready to address those feelings.

 

And yet here they were. Her hand, calloused from years and years of archery, was so delicate against his jaw. She still tasted of the sweet wine they had earlier. He wondered if she tasted the same on his lips.

 

The silky material of Brianna’s dress moved like water through his hands, so he tightened his grip slightly on her waist. He could have sworn he heard her sigh, but surely that was his imagination.

 

Aloth hadn’t allowed himself to get close to anyone for many years. From lying about Iselmyr and the Leaden Key, Brianna had been the first person to get past his defenses in some time. After they parted ways, his time attempting to dismantle the Leaden Key had been lonely. Not that he had been without companionship, but he hadn’t been able to truly let his guard down around those people.

 

With Brianna, it was different.

 

As she moved her lips almost lazily against his, he pressed back more insistently than before. For once, he didn’t think about the future. He didn’t think about what would come next or how he would explain himself if Brianna asked why he had kissed her back. Aloth simply wanted to stay in this moment, kissing her forever.

 

* * *

 

Suddenly, Brianna was brought back to the present when a guest brushed against her back walking behind her. She remembered why she was kissing Aloth. Before breaking the kiss, she reached out with her mind and found that Takano had left the room. She slowly pulled away to find that Aloth was flushed a beautiful shade of red and he had a dazed look in his eyes.

 

“He’s gone,” Brianna said, glancing over her shoulder to double check, “We can make our way out now, if we’re careful.”

 

Brianna couldn’t help but notice they had garnered an audience with their display. Some of the guests around them were giving them curious looks, others disapproving glances at their public display of affection. Brianna felt shame rise up in her chest. She wanted to get herself, and more importantly Aloth, out of there as quickly as possible.

 

When she looked back at Aloth, he seemed to have regained some of his composure. He was smoothing down his robes. The guilt began to bubble up in her throat until it spilled out in words.

 

“I-I’m sorry. I know you don’t like people in your personal space, I shouldn’t have done that-“ Brianna started rambling before Aloth cut her off.

 

“It’s quite all right, Brianna. You did the right thing. It would have been much worse for Takano to blow our cover,” Aloth assured her.

 

Even as he spoke, Brianna watched as he clasped and unclasped his hands. His face and ears were still red and he wouldn’t meet her eye. If everything was fine, why was he acting like this?

 

Instead of asking, Brianna just nodded dumbly.

 

The rest of the night proceeded without incident. Brianna and Aloth managed to leave the party without running into Takano again and they returned to the Watershapers Guild where Tekéhu was waiting for them.

 

But Brianna couldn’t stop thinking about how Aloth had kissed her back.


End file.
